<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>No One Knows Us by CSHfic, VSfic</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076867">No One Knows Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSHfic/pseuds/CSHfic'>CSHfic</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VSfic/pseuds/VSfic'>VSfic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>No One Knows Us (Pro-Bending AU) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Sports, Ba Sing Se, Developing Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Getting Together, M/M, Oral Sex, Paparazzi, Porn with Feelings, Pro-Bending, background katara/aang - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 01:27:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076867</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSHfic/pseuds/CSHfic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VSfic/pseuds/VSfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sokka is the highest paid pro-bender in the league. He's also the league's only nonbending player, a fact that sells tickets as much as it makes the purists of the sport angry.</p><p>Zuko was the second-best rated firebender in the major league, before his abrupt and mysterious retirement.</p><p>It's (mostly) luck when they run into each other on the street.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>No One Knows Us (Pro-Bending AU) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1085</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No One Knows Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is such a goofy idea, played straight haha</p><p>We might have more ideas for this AU, but we'll probably post them as a series if we add to it!</p><p>Check out this incredible fanart by @annnesbonny!!<br/><a href="https://annnesbonny.tumblr.com/post/632616778084794368/been-thinking-a-lot-about-pro-bending-sokka">Pro-bender Sokka</a> and <a href="https://annnesbonny.tumblr.com/post/638700231234650112/good-evening-to-people-reading-romancedawning-and">Pro-bender Zuko</a></p><p>And more gorgeous fanart by <a href="https://mygirlfriendthemoon.tumblr.com/post/638359153867423744/sokka-recognizes-him-immediately-even-with-the">@mygirlfriendthemoon!</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That sucked,” Toph says, flopping down on the bench and kicking her feet up. She’s got a towel around her shoulders, hair the kind of lumpy tangle that comes with not caring how it looks. Sokka has to nudge her feet—more of a shove, really, she’s as stubborn as she is strong—to clear enough room on the bench in front of his locker to sit.</p><p>“It wasn’t <em>that</em> bad,” Sokka starts to say, except… they’ve had nearly a dozen people come in for tryouts, and none of them were even half as good as Aang. At this point, Sokka will settle for a quarter as good. “I mean... Suki didn’t hate the earthbender?”</p><p>“We don’t need another earthbender,” Toph says.</p><p>“Well, we need <em>someone</em>,” Sokka grumbles. He’s feeling dangerously close to admitting to Toph that they might have to settle, which he’s sure will just make her punch him.</p><p>Aang hadn’t given them a lot of warning when he’d told them he was going to drop out from the rest of the season, but Sokka really should have seen it coming. He and Katara are busy people, so a long engagement had seemed like a good idea, but there’s only so much wedding planning Katara can do alone while juggling medical school and clinical rotations.</p><p>Sokka is frankly surprised that Aang lasted as long as he has. He’s always treated pro-bending more as a hobby than a real career, and he’s been overwhelmed for a while now. When his other choices were neglecting his responsibilities as the Avatar and neglecting Katara, it was obvious which string he needed to cut.</p><p>And as much as she complains, Sokka knows Toph won’t ask Aang to come back, even if they can’t find a good replacement for him.</p><p>That doesn’t mean they’re not going to complain, though. Sokka wouldn’t hate recruiting half as much as he did if all the talent didn’t jump straight to the major league from university. Toph likes owning her own team, and she likes the more lax rules of the minor league, even if Sokka secretly thinks she’d enjoy the challenge in the majors. She’d had a lucky break recruiting Aang, if only because he <em>can’t</em> join the major leagues, technically, with their “one water, one fire, one earth” rule automatically disqualifying him.</p><p>Sokka doubts they’ll get so lucky again. The players they ran through today aren’t <em>terrible</em>, but they definitely aren’t Aang.</p><p>He’s going to hold out hope that Aang will come through on that vague, cagey promise that he had someone in mind for his replacement. Yeah, it’s a little strange that Aang is being so secretive, but their team brand is kind of built around the fact that they’re all oddballs to the sport, so even if the guy Aang has in mind <em>is</em> a weird pick, Sokka kind of doesn’t care.</p><p>Mostly, he just wants someone who can score a single point over the course of their tryout. Today wasn’t even <em>fun</em>. It was just a monotonous slog of Sokka and Toph playing two-on-three against their possible new recruits and finding not a single person who met even Sokka’s standards, let alone Suki’s or Toph’s.</p><p>Sokka sighs. “I’m gonna go shower,” he says.</p><p>“I promise not to peek,” Toph says. Sokka snorts at the joke. She makes absolutely no effort to move out of his way, so he has to step over where her knee is blocking the aisle. He grabs his towel and heads to the shower, hoping the hot water will wash away some of the tension and frustration from the day’s tryouts.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sokka leaves his hair down to dry, packs his things into his gym bag, and slings it over his shoulder. He’s clean, but he’s <em>starving</em>, and all he wants to do is run home and inhale a couple protein bars while he throws one of Suki’s pre-made meals into the oven to cook.</p><p>He thinks the hair makes him a <em>little</em> bit harder to recognize, if not much, which he hopes means he’s less likely to bump into someone who wants to stop him on the walk home. He’s clinging to that hope, head down and walking quickly as he starts down the street toward his apartment.</p><p>Which is why, of course, he’s only made it a block from the gym before the spirits throw his hopes for a quick escape and a lazy afternoon right in his face.</p><p>Sokka turns the corner, and immediately crashes into another body. His first thought is:<em> ah, fuck, please don’t be a weirdo</em>, but the other guy isn’t even looking where he’s going, so he’s…<em>probably</em> not trying to orchestrate some kind of meeting.</p><p>Sokka barely reacts in time to grab the guy’s arm to steady him, so he doesn’t fall flat on his face at Sokka’s feet.</p><p>“Sorry,” he mumbles, barely catching Sokka’s eye as he tries to push past him.</p><p>Something about the sound of his voice pricks the back of his mind, has Sokka looking twice, and when he does—</p><p>Sokka recognizes him immediately. Even with the black mask over his mouth and nose, even with the cap pulled down over his face, it would be a little difficult to miss the scar over his left eye. He probably should have gone for sunglasses, instead of the hat.</p><p>Sokka has never bothered with masks, but it must be harder to go unrecognized when you have a face like Zuko’s. The really weird thing is that Sokka has <em>no idea</em> what Zuko is doing in his neighborhood.</p><p>Everyone has heard about the abrupt and unexplained retirement of the pro-bending major league’s second-best rated firebender. It was such big news that even Gran Gran, who almost never paid attention to pro-bending news beyond occasionally asking Sokka if they were winning, had called to ask him to explain the drama to her.</p><p>By the way his eye widens, Sokka can tell that Zuko recognizes him, too.</p><p>Sokka is… <em>so</em> curious. The Komodo Rhinos’ owner had been surprisingly mum about the whole ordeal, and Zuko hadn’t been available for any interviews, either. Sokka could absolutely ask him, but he knows someone trying to go incognito when he sees them, even if Zuko is doing a remarkably bad job at it.</p><p>And really, part of that is Sokka’s fault. He’s always got a few hangers-on that follow him from the gym to his apartment, fans that try to catch his or Toph’s or Aang’s attention, and photographers looking for something to sell to a tabloid or post online for those sweet, sweet likes. Usually he just ignores them, because his doorman takes absolutely no shit, and it’s easier to pretend they aren’t there, but if Sokka recognizes Zuko they will definitely recognize him too.</p><p>“Come on,” Sokka says.</p><p>He grabs Zuko’s arm, already imagining that blurry shot on the front page of The Fortuneteller, and drags Zuko after him. The quicker they move, the less likely the photographers following Sokka are to get a clearer shot before they lose them.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Zuko asks, sounding strangled. He’s clutching a bag against his stomach, like he’s trying to hide the label with the flat of his palm. Sokka spares it a glance and then moves a bit closer to help block it from view.</p><p>“Helping you out,” Sokka says. He gives the man across the street a little wave, stepping between Zuko and the road to block his shot just as the man scrambles to bring his camera up. “Unless you want to say hello?”</p><p>Zuko follows his gaze and grimaces.</p><p>“No,” he says quickly, ducking his head as he finally spots the paparazzo trying to follow them around the corner. “Definitely not.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sokka ducks into the short alley and walks them right up to the back entrance of the restaurant. It’s already propped open with a milkcrate to let out the heat, and Sokka drags Zuko inside before he can protest, and hopefully before their wannabe paparazzi friends can see which way they’ve gone.</p><p>Inoka’s restaurant is just enough of a hidden gem that most people can’t find the <em>front</em> entrance if they don’t already know what they’re looking for. Sokka has snuck in through the back a few times, mostly to duck the press, and he hasn’t been caught yet.</p><p>“Are we allowed in here?” Zuko whispers.</p><p>Sokka understands the impulse. They’re well past the lunch rush on a weekday, and the kitchen is not at all busy enough to keep the cooks distracted.</p><p>Sokka nearly laughs out loud at the way they glance at Sokka and back down at their stations, <em>just Sokka, not interesting</em>, before they seem to register just who Sokka has brought with him and all do a synchronized, obvious doubletake.</p><p>“Absolutely,” Sokka says, slapping Zuko on the shoulder. He looks <em>deeply</em> uncomfortable, although Sokka can’t tell if it’s the stares or the fact that he was just dragged into the off-limits backroom of a restaurant by someone who is, basically, a stranger. “Inoka! Can we get a table?”</p><p>Inoka swipes her bangs back from her eyes with her forearm. She’s got a cleaver the size of Sokka’s head in her hand. The gesture waves it around wildly as she glances toward where they’re standing in the corner of her crowded kitchen. She stares at them, first at Sokka, and then just at Zuko.</p><p>“You wanna hide out in the back room again?” she asks, still staring at Zuko.</p><p>“Is it free?” Sokka asks hopefully. She nods, slightly.</p><p>“Go on, then,” she says. “You know the drill.”</p><p>“Thank you!” he calls over his shoulder.</p><p>Sokka has to steer Zuko around the outside of the kitchen, but he pauses in the doorway to grab two menus and a marker. Then he leads Zuko down the hall to the back room. All of the tables are empty, thank Tui, and Sokka pulls the door shut behind them. Zuko takes his mask off as soon as Sokka closes the door, and <em>fuck</em>, he’s so much more handsome in person than he is on the cover of a magazine.</p><p>Sokka forces himself to look away so that he isn’t caught staring. He hands the marker to Zuko, and then hands him four pieces of cardstock.</p><p>“Sign those?” Sokka asks, and then slides into the booth in the back corner and tosses his gym bag on the floor. Zuko, after a puzzled moment, slides into the other side of the booth. He does start signing though.</p><p>“Inoka’s got three kids,” Sokka clarifies, once Zuko slides them over. “The last one is <em>for the restaurant</em>.” He gives that the air quotes it deserves. Sokka knows Inoka is a fan, too, even if she won’t admit it to his face. “She hangs them by the host stand.”</p><p>“Do you come here often?” Zuko asks.</p><p>“Only when I’ve got a hot date,” Sokka says.</p><p>He grins, and wiggles his eyebrows for the full effect.</p><p>Zuko, predictably, rolls his eyes.</p><p>Zuko, unpredictably, goes <em>very</em> red.</p><p><em>Okay</em>, then.</p><p>“Really, though,” Sokka says, filing that little observation away, “I found this place when I was looking for some good, authentic Water Tribe food. Inoka’s cool enough to let me hide out when I want to duck the photographers after practice, so long as we give her these.” Sokka waves the cards between them, for emphasis. “It’s a pretty sweet deal.”</p><p>Zuko pauses a moment, taking that in. He nods slowly, as a bit of nervousness creeps into his expression. He clears his throat.</p><p>“Uh… thank you for that, by the way,” he says. “I don’t… really know my way around the Upper Ring. I wasn’t expecting so many of them.”</p><p>Sokka waves him off breezily, though Zuko’s phrasing does pique his interest. He doesn’t know his way around <em>the Upper Ring</em>, like he’s familiar with other parts of Ba Sing Se. It makes him a bit curious. So far as Sokka knows, Zuko has lived in Caldera City—home of the Komodo Rhinos—until very recently. Maybe he’s just found time to explore during their away games, but… the admission sounds more loaded than that. Anyway, Ba Sing Se’s pro-bending arena is in the Upper Ring, so if he’s seen anything of the city, Sokka would have guessed he’d explored around there.</p><p>Not that it matters. He’s just finished rescuing Zuko from a bunch of creeps. Sokka’s not going to pry into his personal life.</p><p>“You’re hungry, right? Mind if I just order for both of us?” Sokka asks.</p><p>“That’s fine,” Zuko says.</p><p>“Don’t tell my boss I’m eating out,” Sokka says, slipping the order card out of one of the menus. He leans over the table to steal back Zuko’s marker.</p><p>“Isn’t your boss Toph Beifong?”</p><p>“No, she’s just the owner,” Sokka says. Zuko tilts his head, the smallest frown tugging at one side of his mouth, clearly not seeing the difference. “I mean, have you ever met Toph? She definitely can’t judge me for my bad habits. I meant our trainer, Suki.”</p><p>Sokka kind of hadn’t expected Zuko to know anything about the minor league teams. He knows most of the major league teams don’t pay attention to any of them, except maybe to Sokka, if only to grumble about how he’s an insult to the sport, or Aang, because he’s the Avatar.</p><p>Zuko nods immediately though, so maybe Sokka underestimated him.</p><p>“She’s got us all on this warrior’s diet they keep on Kyoshi Island,” Sokka says. He hesitates over the card, and then just checks every box down the first row. Everything is delicious here, anyway, and he can just take the leftovers home.</p><p>Zuko stares at the boxes Sokka has checked upside down, as though he doesn’t recognize a single one of them. Then he reaches out tentatively to mark down a single pot of jasmine tea, like the most boring person in the world. Sokka ticks a few more boxes for him at random.</p><p>“Sorry about like, kidnapping you off the street, by the way,” Sokka says. He hands the little order card off to their server when she swings by to drop off waters at their table. She doesn’t even look at them twice, because Inoka is the kind of thoughtful person who only sends people who don’t give a <em>fuck</em> about who Sokka is, and won’t bother him while he eats. Also, because she likes to give him shit, and it keeps him humble.</p><p>“If you don’t want to stay, you can probably sneak out the back,” Sokka adds. “Just give the photographers a few minutes to give up so you don’t spoil my hiding spot.”</p><p>“It’s fine,” Zuko says. Now that he’s sat down, Sokka can see what he’d been carrying earlier. He’s crinkling one of those white paper pharmacy bags in his lap, but if he looks annoyed, it’s definitely not at Sokka. “I was just on my way back to my hotel. I’m sorry if I interrupted your day.”</p><p>Sokka shrugs.</p><p>“It’s kind of my fault, anyway,” he says. “You don’t do interviews, right?”</p><p>Sokka <em>knows</em> that he doesn’t, but it feels rude to admit, like he’s been keeping tabs on him. Zuko nods.</p><p>“I’d avoid the gym, then, if you don’t want to be recognized,” Sokka says. “They love to skulk around after practice.”</p><p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zuko says.</p><p>“So, what brings you here? Sightseeing in the Upper Ring?” Sokka asks, nonchalant.</p><p>He hopes it doesn’t sound too much like prying. Sokka’s go-to when he’s talking with other pro-benders is to talk shop, but he has no idea if that’s a sore subject for him, since no one knows why Zuko quit in the first place.</p><p>Zuko’s team—well, his former team—is based out of Caldera City, so it’s not that weird to wonder what brought him to Sokka’s neighborhood. Maybe he <em>is</em> just sight-seeing. There’s plenty to do in the Upper Ring, especially for someone who can afford it. If it was Sokka who’d spontaneously retired from pro-bending, he’d probably take a month-long vacation just for the chance to eat and drink whatever he wanted without his nutritionist breathing down his neck.</p><p>He can tell by the way Zuko hesitates just slightly, like he’s reluctant to answer, that he’s probably not on vacation.</p><p>“I’m staying in the Three Rings Hotel,” Zuko says finally. Sokka’s never stayed there, but he knows it’s only a few blocks from his apartment, and it’s <em>fancy</em>, fancy. He probably shouldn’t be surprised given Zuko’s… everything. “A... friend of mine asked me to meet him for... well. I’m not really sure. He wouldn’t give me details over the phone.”</p><p>He doesn’t offer up anything else, but Sokka can guess that he’s probably here for a job. Sokka’s certainly signed enough contracts with non-disclosure agreements to know not to pry. He’ll probably see Zuko on a billboard downtown in a couple of weeks.</p><p>“What about you?” Zuko asks.</p><p>“I live in the neighborhood,” Sokka says. “Practices run so long sometimes. I wanted to live close to the gym.”</p><p>“Right. That makes sense,” Zuko says quickly.</p><p>He pauses again, crinkling the corner of the bag in his lap between his fingers. He’s—surprisingly awkward. It looks strange on him, considering that until now, the only impression Sokka had of… Zuko’s whole team, really, was the brand they’d pushed, fierce and intimidating and <em>intense</em>.</p><p>He’s surprised by how charming he finds it. Sokka tries to think of something else to say that isn’t completely prying into his personal life, but now that he’s thought of the Komodo Rhinos again, his curiosity is burning him up. Zuko looks almost expectant, like he knows exactly what Sokka’s thinking, so of course he refuses to give in and ask him.</p><p>They’re momentarily saved from the awkwardness when Inoka pokes her head into the room, and then quickly pulls the door shut behind her.</p><p>Inoka has a tray balanced against her shoulder. Sokka pauses as she leans over them to set the tea in front of Zuko, followed by the rest of the small plates they’d ordered. He flashes her a grateful smile as she leaves the two of them alone again.</p><p>“That was fast,” Zuko says. “She must really like you.”</p><p>Zuko smiles at him, the briefest flash of white teeth, and Sokka feels a little sympathetic thrill in his chest. He finds himself smiling back.</p><p>“Nah, she’s just trying to impress you,” Sokka says. “I won’t complain about fast service <em>and</em> good company, though.”</p><p>Zuko scoffs, but Sokka is pretty sure he isn’t imagining the pink flush peeking out from under his collar. He reaches for his bowl, and tries not to wonder how far down that blush goes. Zuko reaches tentatively for the tea, pours for Sokka and then himself.</p><p>“This is weird,” Zuko says, after a moment. He’d been scrutinizing the plates from the moment Inoka started to set them down, and Sokka can’t help but roll his eyes.</p><p>“You haven’t even tried anything yet,” he says. “I mean, Southern Water Tribe food is better, but there aren’t any Southern restaurants in the Upper Ring...”</p><p>Sokka picks a few options off each of the small plates, trying to imagine what someone without any culture might like. When he sets the plate down in front of Zuko and glances up, he’s chuckling at him.</p><p>“I wasn’t talking about the food,” Zuko says. He pulls the plate Sokka offers him closer anyway, and then taps the butt of his chopsticks against the hardwood table. “I meant—it’s weird to be invited to lunch by someone without wondering if they’re only here because… you know.”</p><p>Ah. That’s something Sokka can understand. He’d given dating a try when he first moved to Ba Sing Se to join the Badgermoles—<em>not that this is a date</em>, he quickly reminds himself—and it was... very hard, to find people to go out with who didn’t make it <em>weird</em>. He’d honestly given up on trying after he and Suki didn’t work out, beyond the occasional casual fling.</p><p>“Perks of the job,” Sokka says.</p><p>Zuko huffs his frustrated agreement and picks a dumpling off his plate. For a moment he looks thoughtful, like he’s warring with what to say next. Sokka thinks he knows where this is going.</p><p>“Uh. Can I ask…” Zuko trails off before he gets the question out, but he has that <em>look</em>.</p><p>“How did I get into pro-bending, when I’m not a bender?” Sokka guesses.</p><p>Zuko at least looks sheepish at being so transparent, or maybe in asking the question that, for some reason, people always think he’s going to take offense to.</p><p>“I bet you get asked that a lot,” Zuko says, a bit apologetically.</p><p>“Only every single interview,” Sokka says. He shrugs and leans back in his seat, tracing his fingers around the rim of his teacup as he considers Zuko’s question.</p><p>“Honestly, it was just a joke at first,” Sokka says. “My sister used to play with Toph in college before she left for med school, so we were old friends. Back when she’d just started playing in the league, Toph’s team used to have a waterbender that was always kind of flakey. One day she no-showed to a match.”</p><p>He pauses and takes a sip from his cup. Sokka isn’t a huge tea person, but the flavor suits the food well. Zuko leans in to refill it without him asking.</p><p>“We’d always joked that since only the major league has the ‘one firebender, one earthbender, one waterbender’ rule, there wasn’t <em>technically</em> any reason I couldn’t play for her team in the minors. And then her teammate flaked, and Toph needed a body to keep them from getting disqualified, so...”</p><p>Sokka shrugs. Even if it started as a joke, he’s <em>good</em> at what he does. He’s sure he’d have more trouble with the major league teams, but in the minors he can definitely hold his own, with or without bending. All those years of helping Katara practice her waterbending had really paid off.</p><p>Somehow between that, their team’s sudden popularity as the underdogs worth watching, and, as Sokka secretly suspected, the subtle threat of a lawsuit from Toph, the minor league had backpedaled on trying to fill the loophole that let Sokka play. No one really complains anymore, so long as the Badgermoles consistently sell seats.</p><p>Well, not to their faces, at least. Sokka is the best paid pro-bender in the minor <em>and</em> major leagues, if only because the major leagues have a million rules about sponsorships that Sokka isn’t held to. If all he has to do is wear Cabbage Corp gear and smile for Cactus Juice advertisements to put Katara through medical school without debt, and make sure Gran Gran doesn’t have to worry about money, Sokka is more than happy to sell out.</p><p>He knows it makes purists of the sport mad, but Sokka doesn’t really care. Sometimes he’ll trawl through his more vitriolic Twitter mentions just for a laugh.</p><p>“Huh,” Zuko says.</p><p>“What?” Sokka asks.</p><p>“I guess I always assumed it was… I don’t know. An activism thing?” Zuko says.</p><p>“You sound like my sister,” Sokka says with a laugh. Katara was always nagging him about that, behaving for the camera, being a <em>role model</em>, blah blah. He loves to remind her that no, it’s mostly just the paycheck thing, just to wind her up, even if that’s not entirely true. He shrugs and glances at Zuko to gauge his reaction, “But, no. It’s fun and the money is good. Sorry to disappoint.”</p><p>Zuko hums thoughtfully. His eyes are surprisingly sharp when he meets Sokka’s gaze, like he’s seen right through his posturing.</p><p>“Well, I think it’s admirable. Carving a space for yourself. Doing something you enjoy,” Zuko says. He says it way too earnestly, leaning forward across the table. Then he seems to remember himself. He flushes and takes a hasty sip of his tea—it’s extremely endearing to watch.</p><p>Sokka laughs, a bit embarrassed. The compliment makes him feel like maybe he <em>should</em> have a better reason for doing this.</p><p>“You give me too much credit,” Sokka mumbles, and then stuffs a knot of seaweed noodles in his mouth to keep himself from saying anything stupid.</p><p>Zuko shrugs. “Maybe,” he says. “I don’t think so, though.”</p><p>Zuko tries the same dish, nibbling at the edge of a seaweed noodle. Sokka can tell from the poorly-concealed face he pulls that it’s not really to his tastes, but he eats it politely anyway.</p><p>“So, what’s it like playing with Aang?” Zuko asks. Sokka glances up at him, a little surprised.</p><p>“You know Aang?” Sokka asks. Zuko’s lips quirk.</p><p>“We’ve met, yeah,” he says. He looks like he wants to say more there, but then he shrugs instead. “Something tells me matches with him are a bit more… <em>relaxed</em> than I’m used to.”</p><p>Zuko says it like he means <em>absolutely chaotic</em>, which, honestly, would be a more apt descriptor.</p><p>Sokka laughs. “No offense, man, but I think <em>everything</em> is relaxed compared to what you’re used to.”</p><p>The Komodo Rhinos have a <em>reputation</em>, okay? They’ve won more championships than the next two contenders combined, and Sokka has heard all kinds of horror stories about their strict training regiments.</p><p>Like, strict enough that Sokka is positive that Zuko wouldn’t be sitting here, eating anything other than tap water, if he wasn’t retired. Zuko shoots him a wry smirk, not offended, but not quite happy either. Like he can’t decide between laughing and cringing. Almost like he regrets mentioning it.</p><p>Almost, but then Zuko leans over the table to pick a sea prune off of Sokka’s plate, from right between his chopsticks. The looks Zuko gives him then is a lot more genuine, as he sucks the bite between his teeth, almost a dare.</p><p>“Tell me about it?” he asks, and that, at least, Sokka can do.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sokka talks until he gets self-conscious, until they’ve eaten through almost everything Sokka ordered, but if he’s annoying Zuko he isn’t showing it. He gathers their empty plates up into a pile on the corner of the table and then scoops his bag up off the floor.</p><p>Inoka always heckles him if he tries to loiter in her kitchen, like pretending he’s annoying her will throw him off the trail of her being a pro-bending superfan. Or maybe it’s to keep the line cooks from catching on? He’s not really sure. Sokka peeks cautiously out the back door, just to be safe, but the alleyway is predictably clear. Inoka barely waves at him over her shoulder when he calls back in to thank her, like Sokka didn’t notice how carefully she’d tucked those autographs aside.</p><p>The Three Rings is in the opposite direction of Sokka’s apartment, so he hesitates outside the doorway. The dumpster smells a bit like seaweed, overripe and much too gross for how nostalgic it makes him. Zuko smiles, still taking their sneaking around in stride.</p><p>“Thanks again,” Zuko says, stuffing his hands in his pockets.</p><p>Sokka pauses and glances back at him. Zuko doesn’t look like he’s in any hurry to go, and Sokka remembers how pretty he’d flushed when he’d joked about this being a date.</p><p>...Well, you miss every shot you don’t take, right?</p><p>“Listen, this was fun,” Sokka says, fingering his phone in his pocket. “Can I give you my number?”</p><p>Zuko looks startled, and then... hesitates.</p><p>Ah, damn. Maybe he’d read him wrong after all. Suki was always warning him, just because he’s over-friendly, and people are friendly back, doesn’t mean—</p><p>“Come back to my hotel room?” Zuko asks. Sokka stares at him.</p><p><em>Oh</em>.</p><p>“Oh! Yes,” Sokka says, “Definitely, yes. Lead the way.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Three Rings Hotel isn’t that far of a walk from the restaurant, even weaving through a more indirect route to avoid drawing any attention to themselves. Zuko is <em>so</em> conspicuous with his mask and his stupid hat. It’s kind of hilarious, and very charming, and Sokka has to resist the urge to knock it off his head before they go inside. Sokka nudges him around toward the side entrance so that they can avoid the crowd gathering in the main lobby.</p><p>“What floor?” Sokka asks.</p><p>“Seventh,” Zuko said.</p><p>Okay, they can do seven floors. Sokka hooks a finger on Zuko’s sleeve, tugging just long enough to get him to follow him to the stairs instead of the elevator. He spares a quick glance around the stairwell, just to check, and then crowds Zuko up against the doorway.</p><p>“No cameras,” he says, dropping a hand to Zuko’s waist. The Three Rings is the kind of hotel that services Earth Kingdom nobility and visiting dignitaries, so they probably don’t need to worry too much about being discreet. The hotel will lose a lot more with a bad reputation for failing to protect their guests’ privacy than Sokka or Zuko will with an embarrassing photo leaking online, but that doesn’t mean Sokka wants to deal with Toph giving him shit for it.</p><p>“You can’t wait five more minutes?” Zuko asks.</p><p>Sokka hooks a thumb under the edge of Zuko’s mask and pulls it off, revealing a very pretty pout. He’s trying so hard to look stern. Sokka feels something in his chest squeeze at the look Zuko gives him, feeling breathless, aching with wanting. The annoyed tone Zuko is going for would be a lot more convincing if he didn’t sound quite so breathless, or if he wasn’t staring at Sokka’s lips like he was trying to memorize the shape of them.</p><p>The heat in Zuko’s gaze is too much for Sokka to resist. He leans in and kisses him, and Zuko lets out an exasperated sound. The extent of his protests stop there—when Sokka pulls back, Zuko’s eyes are huge and dark, lips parted like he’s not sure whether he wants to say something or chase Sokka’s mouth for another kiss.</p><p>He huffs a little impatient sigh and pushes Sokka toward the stairs with renewed urgency. It’s very flattering, how torn he seems between pausing on the landing of each floor and physically dragging Sokka on.</p><p>They’re both in very good shape—a fact that Sokka is absolutely looking forward to exploring further—but they’re still a bit out of breath when they reach the seventh floor. It’s definitely taken them way more than the promised five minutes to get upstairs, with the number of times Zuko lets Sokka crowd him up against the wall.</p><p>Just once the sound of the fire door opening from one of the floors below them makes them freeze, but the footsteps echo downward not up. Exciting as it is to sneak around, the reminder that he doesn’t <em>actually</em> want to end up on the cover of a shitty tabloid is enough to push Sokka down the hall toward Zuko’s room. It takes Zuko several tries to get the door to read his keycard, but then they’re finally inside. Sokka drops his gym bag at the door. Zuko throws his prescription bag toward the little half-bathroom, where it lands somewhere near the sink.</p><p>Zuko seems to have caught onto the pattern, because he grabs the front of Sokka’s shirt and pushes him back toward the bed before he gets the chance to crowd him against the door again. Sokka’s knees hit the edge of the mattress, and Zuko wastes no time in climbing on top of him and kissing him again. It’s a big bed. Sokka very much approves.</p><p>Zuko slides his fingers through Sokka’s curls. His hair’s probably still a bit damp, because it's thick enough that it takes forever dry. Zuko doesn’t seem to mind, blunt nails scraping against Sokka’s scalp as he leans up to change the angle of the kiss. There’s way too much fabric between them. Zuko barely gave him enough time to kick off his shoes in the entryway, let alone undress.</p><p>Sokka’s not really in a rush, but he <em>is</em> extremely interested to see what’s underneath Zuko’s jacket. He slides his hands under Zuko’s shirt and tries to tug it up enough to get it off of him. His fingers rake over a raised patch of skin, and Zuko shrinks back with a surprised sound.</p><p>“Don’t,” Zuko says. He leans back slightly, and Sokka gets a clearer view of the starburst-shaped scar on his abdomen. “Sorry, it’s—still kind of sensitive.”</p><p>That definitely wasn’t there before, unless they’d taken the effort to photoshop it out of the photoshoot Zuko had done for a magazine spread a couple years back—not that Sokka had been looking, necessarily. He’s not a creepy stalker, he just… pays attention.</p><p>It’s not a hardship to slide his hands further up. He brushes a thumb over his nipple, and Zuko’s fingers dig into his shoulders, blunt nails cutting into his skin. Sokka does it again, just to watch Zuko’s lips part, and then sweeps his fingers higher. He curls his hands around his shoulders, down warm skin and strong arms.</p><p>Spirits, even if he’s not pro-bending anymore, Zuko clearly keeps in shape. With truly commendable effort, Sokka manages to tear his eyes away from Zuko’s abs long enough to glance at Zuko’s face. He looks embarrassed, and a little uncertain, which just won’t do.</p><p>“No problem,” Sokka says breezily. He takes advantage of the space he’s put between them to wriggle out of his own shirt, tugging insistently at Zuko’s pants until he slides them off. Then he runs his hands over Zuko’s chest to curl around his back and drag him down again.</p><p>Zuko gasps when he leans in to kiss his neck. The scrape of teeth against skin earns another low noise, soft in Sokka’s ear, and he leans up to nip at Zuko’s bottom lip, chasing the sound.</p><p>Zuko is making a very concerted effort to kiss him breathless when he pauses. He shifts his weight enough that his hips grind down against Sokka’s dick, but he looks a bit uncertain, not at all like he’s trying to drive Sokka crazy. Zuko pulls his wallet out of his pocket, instead.</p><p>“I don’t have—” Zuko gasps against Sokka’s lips. He flushes, and pulls out a condom. “Sorry, we should have stopped to buy stuff. I wasn’t really expecting…”</p><p>He’s looking like he’s seriously considering going to buy stuff <em>now</em>. Sokka is already halfway there, even more so with the way that Zuko shifts in his lap, and he does <em>not</em> want to make a run for supplies.</p><p>“It’s fine,” Sokka says, kissings Zuko’s neck, smiling at the way his breath hitches. “We’ll make do. Whatever you want.”</p><p>He kisses him again, shifts his hips just enough to make it clear how very happy he is with whatever Zuko wants to give him.</p><p>“I <em>want</em> you to fuck me,” Zuko says, with enough heat that it punches the wind out of him. He bites his lip, “but...”</p><p>Zuko kisses him again, quick and hot. Sokka feels like his lips are burning with the heat of it, and then he pulls away. He has hardly a moment to regret the loss before Zuko is sliding his hands lower.</p><p>He hooks his thumbs under Sokka’s waistband and drags his shorts and his boxers down in one pull. Sokka’s already hard, and Zuko wastes no time in shifting down and settling between his legs.</p><p>“Next time,” Sokka promises, and only remembers after he’s said it that he shouldn’t assume. He doesn’t get the chance to be self-conscious.</p><p>Zuko runs his fingers over him, teasing touches that aren’t nearly enough. Sokka bites his lip hard enough to sting, and groans.</p><p>“Please, hurry up,” Sokka says. He feels like he’s on fire, like he’s been burning since Zuko first kissed him back on the stairs. Zuko snorts. It shouldn’t be cute, but it really is, and so is the look Zuko gives him, half smug, half wanting. Zuko drags his hand up, and Sokka throws an arm over his mouth, stifling a moan.</p><p>“Impatient,” he says.</p><p>“I’m literally dying,” Sokka says into his wrist. He can feel Zuko laughing at him, but he’d be a lot more satisfied at making him laugh if he wasn’t <em>dying</em>.</p><p>“Well, we don’t want that,” Zuko says, and finally rolls the condom over him. He gives him one more long stroke, and shifts further down the mattress. He glances up for permission, waiting for Sokka’s brain to start responding long enough for him to nod eagerly.</p><p>Sokka bites back a curse as Zuko swallows him down.</p><p>“Fuck,” Sokka groans. He threads his fingers through Zuko’s hair, holding loosely against his scalp. His hair is so soft, tangled up in a loose braid that’s slipping between Sokka’s fingers as he tugs gently, not enough to move him, just enough for him to feel it. Zuko hums appreciatively, tilting his head slightly in a way that makes Sokka’s grip tighten. The sound goes straight through him, and Sokka knows he’s done for.</p><p>“Spirits, you’re beautiful,” Sokka says. He’s so pretty from this angle, dark lashes brushing his cheeks, gaze tipped down in concentration. His eyes flick up to look at him, and Sokka sweeps his hair back for a better view. “So good,” he continues. Zuko’s eyelashes flutter, and Sokka chokes back a gasp at the way he swallows, the way he leans down to take Sokka in further. “<em>So</em> good,” he repeats, and a thrill of heat pools in his stomach, seeing the subtle shiver of pleasure Zuko gives him at the words.</p><p>Sokka has never been able to keep his mouth shut, but he’s hardly focusing on the words he’s saying, babbling nonsense while Zuko flushes and makes breathy little noises at the praise. Sokka loses himself in the rhythm for a moment, but he can already feel the tightness building in his gut, and he knows he’s not going to last long. He tugs lightly on Zuko’s braid to warn him, hardly able to get the words out, arching up from the mattress.</p><p>“Close,” he chokes out, “Zuko, I’m...”</p><p>Zuko just hums and squeezes his thigh encouragingly, and the vibration and the heat of his mouth on Sokka is enough to put him over the edge. He lies there gasping for a moment. Sokka slowly untangles his fingers from Zuko’s hair, and when he glances down Zuko fixes him with a smug grin that makes Sokka huff a laugh.</p><p>Zuko leans up to kiss him again, languid and sweet, and seemingly unconcerned with his erection now firmly pressing against Sokka’s thigh, like he’s perfectly content to let that be it now that Sokka’s had his. The thought makes him surprisingly flush with want, and a little regretful that they don’t have more time, with Zuko’s evening already arranged.</p><p>There’s got to be a drugstore nearby. If Sokka ran he could… well, he could probably give Suki a heart attack, with the kind of rumors him bringing lube and condoms to a random hotel could stir up… and even then they probably wouldn’t have time to use them, before Zuko has to go meet his friend.</p><p>As nice as kissing him is, and as content as he seems to be to drag it out forever, Zuko hasn’t come yet. He reaches between them to wrap his hand around Zuko’s dick, and the kiss breaks apart on a choked gasp. He pumps his hand once, experimentally, and Zuko groans. His fingers flex painfully tight on Sokka’s bicep, panting and tilting his forehead down against Sokka’s cheek. He has half a mind to feel self-conscious about the way he’s staring at Zuko’s expression. Then Zuko screws his eyes shut as he picks up the pace, and it doesn’t matter anymore.</p><p>Zuko’s fingers are little pinpricks of heat on his arm. Sokka tilts his wrist at a better angle and Zuko gasps, a little puff of heat washing over his skin, hands flaring suddenly hotter against the skin of Sokka’s arm before Zuko remembers himself and his hands skitter away.</p><p>“Sorry,” Zuko gasps, high and breathless, “Sorry, sorry.”</p><p>That little slip, that little moment of no control, is so hot that Sokka can’t help the sound he makes, even as Zuko slides his hands down to grip the sheets instead. He must have gotten worked up just from sucking Sokka off, because it doesn’t take long before Zuko is gasping against his neck. He strokes him as he comes over Sokka’s hand and stomach. Zuko catches himself on his elbow to keep from collapsing on top of him, sliding down beside him instead, only partly draped over Sokka’s middle, heedless of the mess they’ve made.</p><p>He’s so warm, all loose and relaxed next to him, and Sokka wants nothing more than to roll over on top of him and kiss him again. He doesn’t know why that feels like—maybe too much, now. Sokka closes his eyes instead, and focuses on catching his breath.</p><p>“That was…” Zuko says. Sokka cracks a grin, and when he sneaks a peek he sees that Zuko is smiling too, small enough that he might not even be aware of it. Sokka is exhausted in that syrupy, satisfying way that comes with good sex or a really hard day of training. He never wants to move again, but...</p><p>Sokka just showered at the gym, but now he could probably stand to shower again. It feels a little presumptuous to ask to borrow the shower in Zuko’s room, though. Anyway, Zuko has a meeting planned for later this evening, and Sokka doesn’t want to overstay his welcome. He makes a face and prods at Zuko’s side until he cracks an eye to look at him.</p><p>“Let me up?” Sokka asks, quietly. Zuko draws his arm back immediately, and rolls over enough that Sokka can extract himself from his half-sprawl on top of him to go fetch a washcloth from the bathroom. He cleans up quickly, and then gets a fresh towel for Zuko, because that’s just polite. He tosses it to him and then goes to fetch his shirt from where it had landed by the nightstand so he can dress.</p><p>Then Sokka scoops Zuko’s stupid hat up off the floor and puts it on. Making a clean escape is just as important as getting in unnoticed, after all. He tugs the hat down to obscure his face and then grabs his gym bag.</p><p>Zuko watches him from where he’s sprawled on the bed until Sokka goes to put his shoes on.</p><p>“When are you meeting your friend?” Sokka asks. He has to remind himself not to stare, as Zuko digs around in the dresser drawer, and pulls on a pair of pants.</p><p>“Soon,” Zuko says, and follows him to the door.</p><p>In the end, it’s Zuko who crowds Sokka up against the door on his way out, sweatpants hanging low off his hips. Sokka rubs his thumbs over Zuko’s lower back and kisses him back. Yeah, maybe he’d been overthinking things, worrying about overstaying his welcome.</p><p>“I had a good time,” Sokka says. That feels like a major understatement, but he thinks saying more would definitely be too much. Zuko smiles against his lips, looking bashful and much too pleased for such a mild compliment.</p><p>Sokka smiles to himself the whole way home, with his stupid hat pulled down over his eyes, thinking about Zuko, thinking about the hotel notepad he’d scrawled his number over. Thinking about next time—maybe, if Zuko texts him, if his job interview really is a job interview, if he ends up staying in Ba Sing Se.</p><p>Sokka definitely wouldn’t say no.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>He gets a group text from Suki and Aang early the next morning, asking him to meet at the gym for one more tryout. The <em>last</em> thing he wants to do is sit through another grueling session of trying to keep Toph from absolutely crushing some wannabe pro-bender’s spirits, but Aang promises him that this one will be worth his while. Aang attaches a short video, clearly just taken at their gym. The video shows a man wearing a blue mask, gracefully deflecting Aang’s strikes with a pair dual dao, bits of soft clay scattering around him as he knocks the disks out of the air. The photo Suki sends after, of an absolutely gigantic iced coffee with his name on it, definitely sweetens the deal.</p><p>For a sugary drink <em>and</em> permission not to feel guilty drinking it, he’s sold.</p><p>(The video isn’t half-bad, either.)</p><p>Sokka walks into the locker room, iced coffee bribe in hand, and freezes. For a moment, all he can do is stare, for so long that Toph notices. She pinches him, gentle enough that it’s clear she’s confused and not actually annoyed, and that is enough to get Sokka moving again.</p><p>Zuko waves at him like… well, like he thinks Sokka is going to be <em>angry</em>.</p><p>He’s not sure what he is—surprised, mostly—but angry isn’t the word he’d use.</p><p>“Hi,” Zuko says, when Sokka is close enough to whisper.</p><p>Toph is absolutely eavesdropping right now. If Sokka was a stupider man, he would have tried to play it cool, but he’s smart enough to know there’s no privacy when it comes to Toph, not that she’d blab to anyone, anyway.</p><p>“So,” Sokka says. “Did you <em>know</em> Aang was going to ask you to play for us?”</p><p>Sokka’s pretty sure Aang could befriend a raging moose lion, so he’s not really surprised that he and Zuko know each other, but he definitely wasn’t expecting <em>this</em>. Zuko just looks embarrassed. He’s holding a blue mask in both hands, fingers twisting anxiously around the horns. It’s absurdly out of place here, because this is a gym, not a theater. Sokka just blinks, more and more confused.</p><p>“Not until, uh, after,” Zuko says. He blushes a little at the reminder, and the look on his face makes Sokka’s heart skip a beat.</p><p>Toph is burning a hole in the back of Zuko’s head, with the intensity she’s projecting <em>I would be rudely gawking at you if I needed to look</em>. Thank Tui he has his back to her, because at least Sokka is used to Toph’s bullshit. He can ignore the slow, maniacal smile that’s spreading across her face. Sokka doesn’t know Zuko <em>that</em> well, but he’s pretty sure <em>he’d</em> die of embarrassment.</p><p>Sokka sniffs, and puts on his very best considering face.</p><p>“Well, don’t think you’re going to get special treatment,” he says. Toph is gesturing wildly at him, and Sokka does <em>not</em> see her. “Just because Aang recommended you.”</p><p>“Yeah, Sparky! Show us what you’ve got,” Toph butts in, grinning, all teeth. She stomps toward the door, without waiting for them to follow her.</p><p>Zuko relaxes a little at the challenge, like this, at least, is something he’s sure he can do. He raises the mask to his face and shrugs, and it’s like a whole different person takes over, lithe and confident and smug.</p><p>“If you’re up for it,” he says, the words soft with the promise of a smile behind that mask. By now, Aang and Suki will have already gone ahead to the arena to set up. Sokka grins at him and gestures for Zuko to lead the way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27125429">No One Knows Us [Podfic]</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rionaa/pseuds/Rionaa">Rionaa</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div></div></div>
</body>
</html>